Virgin have entered into a technical partnership with McLaren and have also bought Wirth Racing Technologies. Looks like things could be on the up for them.
does that also mean they are going to manufacture their engines together when mclaren's mercedes deal comes to an end?
This is a big boost for Virgin, their moving forward since ditching Wirth and CFD. Hopefully they can pull away from HRT and set their sights on Lotus.
I did report this some time ago but at that stage it was believed Virgin would run Mercedes engines as part of the deal. Sounds faintly ridiculous now. It's very official now.
Ah sorry Genj, I did have a look back through the old threads as I remembered seeing something about it before but the title of yours meant that I overlooked it. Perhaps a Mod would be so kind as to assist with a bit of "merge and conquer". If they are entering a tech partnership, I wonder if this may lead to McLaren providing engines to Virgin, or indeed Force India, in 2014?
Further to the autosport article, James Allen is reporting some additional details 'Last month the team dispensed with technical director Nick Wirth and now it has acquired his company at the same time as striking a technical partnership deal with McLaren to use its wind tunnel, simulator and other facilities. At this stage the deal is not as extensive as Force India’s partnership with McLaren, which provides them with an engine, drivertrain and hydraulics. Virgin will continue to use Cosworth engines, according to the statement today.'
How realistic is it that McLaren will be able to build and maintain a Formula 1 engine in 2014, let alone support other teams in using it? I know it makes sense on a number of levels in terms of 2014 being the end of the Mercedes deal and the start of the new engine regulations but can they really set up shop as an engine supplier by then? I'd be so nervous about the first few years.
Obviously, this partnership has resulted in some serious cash being handed over by Virgin to McLaren, which perhaps could go some ways to financing such a set up. Also, McLaren would be getting double the amount of feedback than if they just supplied their own team. In this sense, they may be thinking that instead of spending say 3 - 5 years sorting out the gremlins inherent in any new product, they could reduce that to 2 - 3 years by supplying Virgin and receiving double the feedback thus, enabling them speed up quality control. It's all pie in the sky anyway. Even if they are thinking about that, I doubt we'll hear anything about it until 2013 at the earliest.
Interesting. If this is McLaren's plan it would entail a couple of years in which they accept that they may well not be contesting any championships. During that period they would need drivers like Button to accelerate the development of the car, which would explain why they're prepared to extend his contract and increase his salary. They'd need other drivers with good technical knowledge and feedback skills in their supported teams, too. How's Glock on this front? They wouldn't especially need someone who's more focused on himself and his championship aspirations. It's another angle on the Hamilton/Red Bull threads but they're being competently discussed elsewhere. In other areas, McLaren would need to expand the team into the areas that are currently filled by Mercedes staff but I don't see much of a recruitment drive there. We've seen a steady influx of technical personnel at Ferrari, including from McLaren and Renault, and potentially from Virgin, and Williams have been bolstering their team, but surely now is the time for McLaren to expand?
I'd say Button's feedback/development skills will have more than likely helped lead to his contract extension along with his excellent ability race cleanly and tactically. If you were looking for a driver to help develop a car/engine then he's definitely up there with the best of the current crop. Someone mentioned it somewhere else that perhaps this could be a good opportunity to get Gary Paffet into one of the Virgin cars. It's probably not very likely but at 33 years old when 2014 roles around, he would be an ideal development driver for the new engines. Glock will be 32 in 2014 and will be in his 7th season of F1, plus he has experience of being a test driver at Jordan in 2004 and BMW in 2007. Having said all that, I have no idea how he rates on the development/feedback side of things.
Interesting that the big teams all seem to be adopting a smaller one now. Red bull are connected to HRT and now McLaren-VIRGIN.
Is it just me or is Virgin buying Wirth seem a little odd, after they parted company for them not being value for money? Or have I misunderstood that one?
